History and Geography: Chronology, Maps and Sources
What is assessed
History questions test chronological grasp and the ability to use documents as evidence: causes and consequences, turning points, and the difference between a source's content and its reliability. Geography tests map reading, the interpretation of statistics and graphs, and explanations of spatial patterns (population, urbanisation, resources, climate zones, development indicators).
Traps that cost marks
- Anachronism: judging past actors by present categories, or placing events in the wrong decade.
- Confusing cause and pretext: the assassination at Sarajevo was a trigger, not the underlying cause of a wider war.
- Reading a map without its legend, scale, or projection: a choropleth map shows rates, not absolute numbers, and large-area projections distort area.
- Correlation as causation: two indicators rising together does not prove one causes the other.
- Ignoring the source's origin: who produced it, when, for whom, and with what interest?
Worked example
A graph shows life expectancy rising as GDP per capita rises. A weak answer says wealth causes health. A strong answer notes the correlation, then asks about distribution within countries, public health spending, and the fact that gains flatten at higher incomes, and concludes that the relationship is real but mediated by institutions.
Rule of thumb
For every document, answer four questions before writing: what is it, who made it, when, and why. This 'nature, author, date, purpose' habit earns method marks and prevents misuse of evidence.